Taking into account

In the wake of the Executive Council concluding its discussion on the enhanced exchange of fiscal information, local banks are awaiting the specifics of what will be implemented, as the law is being prepared to send to the Legislative Assembly.
In response to Business Daily enquiries as to whether the local banking institutions had been consulted on the law beforehand, representatives from local currency issuer Banco Nacional Ultramarino noted that they ‘understood that the Macau authorities are preparing the related guideline that will be under consultation among the financial institutions’ but that ‘currently neither the law nor the guideline is published’.
The proposed amendments to the current law would add the possibility for ‘automatic’ and ‘spontaneous’ exchanges of information about bank accounts of residents from other countries with the countries in question, such as the United States or Portugal, aside from the current information by request, which mandates the signature of the Chief Executive.
In an interview with agency Lusa, the director of the Financial Services Bureau (DSF) pointed out that the information exchange includes “the account of a foreign citizen, name, address or even the amount in their account”. The director, Iong Kong Leong, points out that the automatic exchanges would be “in regular, pre-established intervals”, while the spontaneous exchanges would be non-systematic but could occur at any time and without a official request.
“This exists to know whether a company is declaring something falsely,” but is “not a coercive recovery procedure” and transfers would “have to be subject to encoding, ensuring their confidentiality”.
‘Any policies and procedures that the Bank will implement will be in accordance with the law and guideline issued by the Macau authorities, and will be applicable to all the banks in Macau,’ noted the BNU representative.
Representatives from the local branch of Bank of China noted that they had ‘no information at this time’, while responses to enquiries had yet to be received from Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (Macau) Limited, Luso International Banking, China Construction Bank and HSBC by the time this went to print.